Toy bell



Nov. 30, 1954 1.. w. HUBBELL V 2,695,589

TOY BELL Filed Oct. 16, 1952 a Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 1581/43 144 #055521.

L/w z f ATTOR NEY Nov. 30, 1954 Filed Oct. 16, 1952 L. W. HUBBELL TOY BELL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR M4 f/uaafz L ATTORNEY TOY BELL Application .Gct'obet 1:6,;19s2..serta1m. 315,145

-"i laim's;i or. ire-wise tt'Hiis invention relatesto toy hells; generally-known as novelty bells; whichmay-assurnedrfferent= designs and outlines simulating the shapesr'of the Liberty' Bell, cow bells, andotherforms.

@It is the-objected? the present i'nvention to provide a tby' bellkconstructionrwhich. is: economical to fabricate and? assemble and which" remains; in assembled condition despiterepeated handling andfihard usage.

F'Ib i's another object. of the-invention to. provide a bell composed .of three component parts; namely, a housing, a -clapperorsounder," and; a unitarysupport for the clapperand. b'ell housiirg;.'each of; which component parts may bestampedand fabricated at low'cos't. These component parts may .be-assembled quickly and .with certainty-"and with no. requirement for skilled manual. dexterityon thepart' of the operator;

' The invention proceeds; uponthe principleof stamping a bell housing with a sufficiently large opening at the head end thereof to permit the; freepassage of the clapper and-support thereforiinassembled condition from the top or outside of thet bellhqusihg to the ,interior tlie'reof.;. The. support for theibellhousingfan cl pp is. aunitary..elementcomnrisinga a. pair: offresilient arms, one tofiwhi'ch. terminates 1111.21. hook for suppor mg h cl pper; and. be ween Whichfisformed' the biell "hou ing supporting loop; Following the introduction of the, clapperinto. thehousingjhroughthethead? end-thereof, the arms f hes pp p upp r sp n heopenmg. and are snapped...on'to. the). bell. housing, .leaying. the'jhell' housin support "extending, above. the top of the. housing; ,jPreferably seating shoulders are provided on theilesilient arms of the unitary. ,support .to.,,engage the. top. I surface of the bell toixen'forcfl. alimitedlandfixed entry of the support, intov tlielbellhqusing... This modexofpassembly enables; .theconheefioh .Qofi .the..clanuer. .suppontzwith the eye of the olapperito iliettexecutedtin .the-opem without pliers,.iand.oi1tside jofitheJconfiniug.sp cewitlrin thel'bell housing, .whereatisuch.lconnections .had. been performed heretofore with. pliers in .theasse'tnblY. of theclapper: with the-wire. supporting element;Jhisoperanon. was. im consuming and r'equii'ecl skilled operators lwlth". ath fgh degree ofmanuah dexterity. Q-ther..objectsand..purposeswill appean from the detailed. description .of the. intention; tollowingheremafter, taken -in eonjunctiorr with: the..ac,c,ompanymg drawings, wherein. l. Fig... 1 v is. a front. elevation. of. one I embodiment .of the bell in. accondancetwi' h the. present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan viewof Fig. I

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view along line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is avertical sectional view along line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig...5- :shows the bell illustrated in the abovenfi gures as tthe sametis being assembledto .jbringit into-titstfinal positioning: shown in Fig. 3; A ..1.Big. ;6 .i's asectional view offamdifierent en liod men of the invention and illustrates acowheli formiof housihgtandadipper-shaped clapper;

I Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view of a different modification of the bell utilizing a spring wire support;

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view along line 8--8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 illustrates an intermediate stage in the assembly of the bell shown in Figs. 7 and 8;

Fig. IO is a horizontal sectional view along line 10-10 of Fig. 9;

/' to he introduced. .Yinto 2,695,589 r Rammed itloiv'ufii); i1 954 Fig. 1 1 illustrates aKdiEererm-embodimentof the bell shown in-"Figs. 7W0; 9 iirwhich the 'housinggis of cow bell" design but in'wvhich theclappefl andzzwire "support therefore areisimilarto the "wir ersupport' shownm.;Figs'. 7

. stamping and drawing operation an. opening 3..is formed in the head end"2"*o thebell. With the Bell. housing and clapper ,support"shown .in. embodiment. illustratedimFigs: l ito stormed ofisheetmetal', theopening 3 is preferably of rectangular; outline.

' The clapper or sounder for the. hel1f-.may. be. formed in any desired manner andin the. embodiment ,sho'wninF igs.

1. tor-5, the clapper: is formed! of. a body 4. stamped from plane'sheet metal having a,suppor.ting eiye.5. .at one. end thereof and an. enlarged portion 16. at. the, opposite end thereof which operates as the sounder for the belI.'..The eye 5 is preferably. completelymlbs'ed inLord'erzzto maintainmore certainly the, connection. between thenolapper and the support. therefor.

The support .10..is. formed oflsheehtmetalland is provided with..opposediresilient arms F111 and and a bell supportingJloop I5. ther.ehetweeri;.. The arm 12 of the support terminatest'in forkedlhifuitcatidns .16.. and 16 at the opposite sides of an opening 18'. The terminals. of these ,bifurcations .ex-tend. .inwardly..and are motched at 17; .1.7..,,respe etit/ely, ,to provident fulcrum of small dimension. for the. eyefiSYof' the clappe'nwhich is adapted tl-1e..,openih"g ISLfoIlowing which the opening is closed by the realignmentlof. lateral arms 16, and 16'..

. lnuadditiontto thegresilientarms lland 12, thebell supportingloop ISQtherebetweematid the hook formed on thearm '12 for; supporting theelapperA, shoulders 13 and.14. are formed .on. the.ariris:11..andl 12, respectively, by indentations 'in'these armsnin'tordento\pnovidepositiverests. for. the.,support. on the top of the bell housmg..

Thus, ztowas'semble .thehthree eomponentrparts of the bell, the clapper is..first.;connected with thetsupport by bending thesbifurcations, vI6; 165. out of :..a1-ignment in order to introduce the. eye-5 ot the clapper into one of them, following .whichthetbifutcations are .bentintoalignment tometain the, clapper.- onto thearm 12. This oper ati'onis one..that can berapidlynexecuted. by an inexperiencedroperatonr.Thereafter, the assembled unit of the clapper 4. and itslsuppont. :10r iSi introduced into the belLhousing from the head. end. or .toptthereof, vas shown in Fig.5 and the..-resilient arms. of the .sup.port l l-and 12 are .yieldingly guided by the edgesofi the rectangular opening 3-in the bell. housing illllliil' theeindentations in thearms- 11 and 12.;snapt.into'the-opposite ends :of the described above,

openmg at1 whiuh time shouldbrsdS: andtM rest. upon the top of the housing;..a-s shown inrFig. 3.. n 'lihesewshoulr ders limit the travel of the supporttlandtclapperdnto the bell housing andr'assurena.tunifotmtfinalaproduct.

astThQ interconnection 10f. the clapper with thensupport therefon: prior: itO: then assembly tofasthese: elements with the. bell housings. enablesr'a iriapidity :ofi uassembly never attalin'ed .heretoforetawhent'ib:wasmecessary to first: integrate: the support with: theubell and :thenrintegrate the clappemwith. thewsupport aim theueonfinin'guspace within the; belle housings: .Thisais tpartieularly ztrue in the manufactnre of-toyibells ofiismallsize. t

In Fig. 6 is shownuazdifferemttierrtbod iment of? the invention in which the housing 1a is of a cow-bell design and in which the clapper instead of assuming a plane sheet metal form is formed of a stamped and drawn unit consisting of a shank 7 having the completely closed supporting eye 8 at one end thereof and a dipper-shaped sounding element 9 at the opposite end thereof. As the eye 8 of the clapper is engaged with arm 12 prior to the introduction of the combined assem-- bly into the bell housing through the top thereof.

Figs. 7 to 10 illustrate a third embodiment of the invention utilizing a bell housing in the outline of a Liberty Bell. In this embodiment a resilient wire support is used rather than a sheet metal support. This support is formed with opposite resilient arms 21 and 22 with the bell supporting loop 20' medially thereof. One of the arms 21 terminates in a hook 25 for receiving the eye 5 of the clapper. minates in a projection 26 in intersecting relation with hook 25 and adjacent thereto in order to prevent the disengagement of the clapper from the hook 25 following its assembly.

Indentations are formed in the opposite arms 21 and 22 in order to provide shoulders 23 and 24 there above, which seat upon the top of the bell at the ends of the opening provided in the head end of the bell. This opening is clearly shown in Fig. 10 and is composed of a main circular area 30 having constricted extensions 31 upon the opposite sides thereof. These extensions permit the free passage of the enlarged portion 6 of the clapper into the bell housing. At the same time, they serve a useful purpose in providing rests for the shoulders 23 and 24 which are conveniently accommointo the constrictions 31 of the opening immediately :3.

below the shoulders 23 and 24 provided in the resilient arms, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. The shoulders 23 and 24 limit the amount of drop of the clapper into the bell housing.

In lieu of the clapper 4 shown in Figs. 7 to 10, a clapper of the type shown in Fig. 6 may be used in the assembly of the bell, in which case the circular opening 30 would permit the passage therethrough of the largest portion 9 of the clapper.

Fig. ll shows a cow-bell housing 1b combined with a plane sheet metal clapper 4 of the type shown in Figs. 1 to5 and 7 to 10. The opening in this bell housing may assume the form shown in Fig. 10 and the mode of assembly of the three component elements is the same as described above.

Fig. 12 shows a different embodiment of the invention,

utilizing a bell housing 10 of still another design which is provided in the head end thereof with openings 30, 31, as shown in Fig. 10. In this case the resilient arm 22 of the support is brought into juxtaposition with the secting relationship, as shown in Figs. 7 to 11.

Of course, clappers of the type shown in Fig. 6 may be utilized with the housings illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12.

Figs. 13 and 14 illustrate still another form of sheet metal bell and clapper support presenting a variation of the support shown in Fig. 4 In this embodiment a strap of sheet metal 40 is shaped to form a supporting loop 41 at the midportion thereof between the two resilient arms 42 and 43 which tend to press towards each other. Shoulders 44 and 45 are formed at the lower limits of the loop support for snapping into resilient engagement with the ends of the rectangular opening 3 in the head end 2 of the bell.

An inclined slot 46 extends from an edge of arm 42 and terminates in circular opening 47 at the end of the arm. The eye 8 of the clapper 7 is adapted to be threaded onto the free end of arm 42 by passing through the slot 46 while arm 43 is flexed away from arm 42. When arm 43 is permitted to return to its position of abutment with arm 42 adjacent to slot 46, the clapper is secured against loss or unintentional removal from arm 42, since the completely closed eye 8 of the clapper is blocked from movement along slot 46.

The opposite arm 22 ter- While I have described my invention as embodied in a specific form and as operating in a specific manner for purposes of illustration, it should be understood that I do not limit my invention thereto, since various modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. A bell of sheet material comprising a housing, a clapper having an eye at one end and an enlarged sounder at the opposite end, a unitary support for said bell housing and said clapper having a pair of resilient arms and a bell supporting loop therebetween, said housing having a sufiiciently large opening in the top thereof to permit free passage of the entire clapper in engagement with said support through the top of the housing into the interior thereof to dispose the clapper within the housing, said arms bridging said opening and in resilient engagement with the top of the housing and with the bell supporting loop thereabove.

2. A bell of sheet material comprising a housing, a clapper having a completely closed eye at one end and an enlarged sounder at the opposite end, a unitary sheet metal support for said bell housing and said clapper having a pair of resilient arms and a bell supporting loop therebetween, said housing having a sufficiently large rectangular opening in the top thereof to permit passage of the entire clapper in engagement with said support through the top of the housing into the interior thereof to dispose the clapper within the housing, and said arms spanning said opening and in resilient engagement with the opposite ends thereof at the top of the housing and with the bell supporting loop thereabove.

3. A bell of sheet material comprising a housing, a clapper having a completely closed eye at one end an enlarged sounder at the opposite end, a unitary wire support for said bell housing and said clapper having a pair of resilient arms, a bell supporting loop medially thereof and a clapper supporting hook at the end of one of said arms, said housing having a sufiiciently large opening in the top thereof to permit passage of the entire clapper in engagement with said support through the top of the housing into the interior thereof, with constrictions at the opposite ends of said opening only large enough to pass the thickness of the wire support, whereby the clapper is disposed within the. housing and said arms are snapped into resilient engagement with the top of the housing at said constrictions, and with the bell supporting loop thereabove.

4. The method of assembling a bell clapper, a unitary resilient support for the clapper and the bell, and a bell housing provided with a sufficiently large opening in the top thereof to pass the entire clapper from the top of the housin into the interior thereof, which com rises mounthook 25 for supporting the clapper rather than in inter g P ing the clapper on the support remote from the housing, dropping the clapper foremost through the opening in the top of the housing into the interior thereof, and snapping said resilient support onto the top of said bell housing at fixed points thereof.

5. A bell as set forth in claim 2 wherein one of the resilient arms is provided with an inclined slot extending from an edge thereof to an opening near the end of the arm through which the eye of the clapper is adapted to be passed for mounting on said arm, and the free end of the other arm is adapted to terminate at the inclined slot to block the return passage therethrough of the closed eye of the clapper.

References Cited in the file of this patent Hubbell May 27, 1952 

